"It is," he said, "but New France is the chief jewel in the French
crown, nevertheless. In time the vice-regal court at Quebec will rule an
empire greater than that of France itself. Think of the huge lakes, the
great rivers, the illimitable forests, beyond them the plains over which
the buffalo herds roam in millions, and beyond them, so they say, range
on range of mountains and forests without end."

"I have been thinking of them," said Robert, "but I've been thinking of
them in a British way."

De Galisonniere laughed again and then grew serious.

"It's natural," he said, "that you should think of them in a British
way, while I think of them in a French way. I suppose we shall have war,
Mr. Lennox, but doesn't it seem strange that England and France should
fight about American territory, when there's so much of it? Here's a
continent that civilized man cannot occupy for many generations. Both
England and France could be hidden away in its forests, and it would
take explorers to find them, and yet we must fight over a claim to
regions that we cannot occupy."

Robert decided then that he liked young de Galisonniere very much. Some
such thoughts had been passing through his own mind, and he was glad
that he could talk frankly about the coming war with one who would be on
the other side, one who would be an official but not a personal enemy.
As the _Frontenac_ slid on through the tumbling green current they
talked earnestly. Willet, sitting near, glanced at them occasionally,
but he too had plenty of thoughts of his own, while Tayoga, saying
nothing, gazed at the high green southern shore. This, so the old men
said, had once been the land of the Mohawks, one of the great nations
of the Hodenosaunee, and now the children of Onontio, who had come with
firearms against bows and arrows, spoke of it as theirs since Manitou
first made the land rise from the deep. Tayoga was silent but he had
many thoughts, and they were thoughts that came to him often and stayed
long.

"De Courcelles and Jumonville, whom you met in the forest," said de
Galisonniere, at length, "arrived in Montreal early last night, and
after a stay of only two or three hours sailed in a schooner for
Quebec."

"Did you see them at all while they were in Montreal?" asked Robert, who
seemed to detect significance in the young Frenchman's tone.

"Only for a few moments," replied de Galisonniere, and Robert, judging
that he wished to avoid more talk on th